Elements Beyond - Osunlade

Elements Beyond

Osunlade [Strictly Rhythm]

#17 in this month's The 20

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: The 20: osunlade strictly rhythm

House producer Osunlade first realised that he wanted to devote his life to music the day he heard Prince’s ‘For You’ at his grandfather’s funeral.

Yet despite the rather sad way that Osunlade first fell in love with music, his records are not melancholic but rather jazz and African-influenced funky beats, and his excellent new LP ‘Elements Beyond’ is no different.

Saxophones, bongos, guitars and live drums all feature on his album, and many of the tracks are based around complex tribal percussion sounds and vocal chants.

There’s elements of Latin and Brazilian music on ‘Elements Beyond’ and also a sniff of spirituality – the fact that Osunlade is a priest of the traditional African religion Ifa means much of his album features idealistic concepts, and is very much a personal and reflective record.

‘Momma’s Groove’ is classic deep house, with spoken words about ‘how the rhythm has changed, but the spirit is still the same’.

Osunlade has certainly got the funk – ‘April’ is positively ecstatic about life, whilst ‘Cream’ disappears in a sea of saxophones and electronic keyboards.

There’s also an electronic edge on ‘Elements Beyond’ including ‘Frequencies’ which features a glitchy electro lead line and a simple drum pattern, and ‘Stomp’ is a cute tribal house record with old-skool organs and big drums.

Overall though, you can put a deep house sticker on this one.

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